An acquisition can be classified as one of the four types, as follows:

Horizontal Acquisition is a form of business combination in which one company buys another that is in the same industry and performs the same function.

Vertical Acquisition is a business combination in which one company buys another that is in the same industry but performs a different production or distribution activity.

Congeneric Acquisition is a business combination in which one company buys another that is in a different industry but performs a related activity.

Conglomerate Acquisition is the type of business combination in which one company buys another that is in a different industry and performs an unrelated activity.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

One of the important steps in productivity improvement is establishing a productivity measurement system with the enterprise. This in itself brings some improvement in performance by making people more aware of the meaning of productivity. The following advice could be useful in setting up the measurement system:

Determine the elements of the enterprise that most need to be monitored.

Determine the types of measure to be used.

Select perfect concepts and units of measurement for the output and input of the company as a whole, and for the critical sub-activities.

Ascertain the availability of data and make necessary compromises.

Select a post activity, section or group within the organization, and test the measurement system to obtain periodic feedback on the results.

Assess the system’s value, make any modifications and conduct a new pilot activity if the modifications completely change the original system design.

A measurement system must consider cost effectiveness, the limitations of productivity measurement and whether total factor measurement is necessary; in other words, it must determine the range and terms of the measurement system tasks. It must be easy to use and serve to identify the reasons for the organizational changes.

The general consideration on productivity management helps in identifying the so-called organizational meta-structure of productivity improvement process. Every given method of productivity improvement covers:

Organizational forms of productivity improvement

Productivity improvement areas

Productivity improvement techniques

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Conflicts over authority are inevitable. As people battle over territory, they will battle over who has how much authority over whom. It is a problem that is unavoidable, however, there are things that can be done to minimize the severity of the problem. Here are some guidelines for avoiding conflicts over authority:

When assigning authority to a job, make sure the authority does not inappropriately usurp the authority of other jobs in the department or in other areas within the company.

Make sure the person clearly understands the authority that has been assigned to him.

Make sure that everyone concerned with the person understands the authority assigned to him.

Establish a system of controls for ensuring that the person is exercising his authority correctly.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Psychographic data deals with people’s attitudes, mores, perceptions rather than with externally observable characteristics, like average home value, classified under demographic data. Marketers use psychographic data to identify groups of people who share common values about such diverse subjects as lifestyles, products, politics, religion, and criminal justice.

Marketers tend to use psychographic data when they are planning to launch a campaign or introduce new products into communities where they do not have previous experience. The cable television industry makes extensive use of psychographic data when deciding whether it should promote pay services that feature R-rated or PG-rated movies.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Manufacturing inventories depend on how much value has been incorporated by the firm:

Raw materials

Components/Subassemblies/Unfinished items

Work-in-process

End items/Finished goods

Raw materials are any inventories by a company which the company has not yet processed in any way. This would include such obvious raw materials as iron ore, sand or glass. However, by definition, it could include computer chips or other expensive items which have not yet been processed.

Components/Subassemblies/Unfinished items have been processed to some extent by the company, but are not yet finished. They may leave production area and be stored off the line, but will still not revert to being called raw material. They already have value added.

Work in process is similar to components, et al. it is actually a mixture of raw materials and components that are currently a part of the production process. So some raw materials may be part of work-in-process, and some components may not be.

Finished goods are simply goods which are finished and ready for sale. They are almost never left in the work area, but are moved out into final storage or packaging.

There is often some ambiguity about classification, since a company may sell some unpainted furniture but paint some for final sale. Is a given unpainted piece to be considered finished goods or not? Perhaps we need a new term for such goods.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

When advertisers discuss media, they talk of reach and frequency. Reach refers to the number of people who will be exposed to the message. Frequency refers to the number of times each person will be exposed. Although in some endeavors you should strive for reach, in most, frequency will help you even more. Remember, familiarity breeds confidence, and confidence serves as the springboard to sales.

Select a marketing method. Before you select any method of reaching the people you wish to reach, think these thoughts. It is not necessary to say everything to everybody, nor is it possible. If you try to say everything to everybody, you’ll end up saying everything to nobody or nothing to everybody. Instead, you should try you should strive to say everything to everybody. Your marketing message is the “something.” Your target audience is the “somebody.” Just as you take care in selecting what you will say, you should take equal care in selecting to whom it will be said. Saying the right thing to the wrong people is not acceptable. Advertising on television does wonders for your ego, but if your prospective customers don’t watch much television, it is folly.

Whether you utilize the method properly yourself, and whether you can afford it. When you combine two marketing methods with two other marketing methods, the total is more than two plus two. A synergistic effect is created whereby two plus two starts to equal five and six and seven. And when you combine five marketing methods with five others, your possibilities for success are increased many fold. The more methods of marketing you employ, and the greater your skill at employing and selecting them, the larger the size of your bank balance.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Conceptual skills, the ability to think in abstract skills, the ability to see how parts fit together to form the whole, are needed by all managers, but particularly top level managers. Top management must be able to evaluate continually where the company will be in the future. Conceptual skills also involve the ability to think creatively. Recent scientific research has revealed that creative thinking, which is behind the development of many innovative products and ideas, including fiber optics and compact discs, can be learned.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.